Takes To Win

Auburn University football coach Pate Dye is promoting senior tailback Brent Fullwood, a former standout at St. Cloud High, for All-Southeastern Conference consideration next fall. Dye said Fullwood is a physical back, ''the kind of tough, hard-nosed player that it takes to win in our conference.''

The UCF coaching staff is waiting patiently. The coaches have seen plenty of signs that sophomore Rob Calabrese is capable of being a good quarterback for the Knights, but he hasn't been able to translate that potential into success on game day this season. UCF Coach George O'Leary and offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe are rolling the dice today, proving their faith in Calabrese' potential to blossom as a quarterback by starting him during a tough Conference USA game at Southern Miss.

Gene Shue, Los Angeles Clippers coach, on losing to host Seattle, 154-104, Friday night for their worst loss in club history: ''You have to be ready in this league. At home, we're more together. On the road, we have no idea what it takes to win.''

Under a tent that could have been pitched by Barnum & Bailey, Alex Rodriguez asked America for forgiveness after his little con-game was exposed. Thought to be the answer for all the baseball superstars juiced up on performance-enhancing drugs, Mr. Rodriguez of the New York Yankees proved to be a liar and a cheat like the rest of them. "I hope that kids would not make the same mistake that I made," he said, before closing with our personal favorite: "I think there's a tremendous opportunity for me to look in the mirror . . . be a better human being, start making the world a better place."

Joe Paterno, Penn State football coach on his philosophy: ''If I had a strong suit as a coach, it's that I know what it takes to win over a period of time, and I stick to it. I don't get sidetracked. I've got enough guts to stick to what I believe, because I think it's the way to do it.''

Dale Earnhardt still has everything it takes to win races, but I have wondered: Does he have a little too much going on [outside of racing)? - Larry McReynolds, Earnhardt's ex-crew chiefThey wrote it. . . .The Big, Well-Managed, Cool, Confident Machine just doesn't have much of a ring to it. But the Yankees probably will get their due if they can get through the postseason unbowed. - Peter Schmuck, The Sporting News

Andy Van Slyke on Wally Backman, who started at third Tuesday in place of Jeff King, still nursing a sore back: ''Like everyone else when you played against Wally, I hated his guts. You wish your pitchers would throw at him every time he came to the plate. Now that he's a teammate, I just love him. He knows what it takes to win.''

Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles sought Wednesday to show he is not quarreling with the state Democratic Party and enthusiastically supports presidential candidate Bill Clinton. The governor, who missed the first two days of the nominating convention, said Clinton has what it takes to win. ''I've been sort of sitting back watching this on television,'' Chiles said. ''I sense as a party we are ready to come together.'' Chiles and state party Chairman Simon Ferro, who have feuded since the governor tried to remove Ferro in 1990, clasped hands to roars of approval from most of the 167 delegates.

ALEX ENGLISH, the leading scorer in Denver history and eighth-highest in NBA history, signed a $1.5 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks. English, who signed a 1-year deal with an option year, will be joining former teammate Fat Lever, obtained in a trade two months ago. English, 36, is expected to back up Rodney McCray, an off-season acquisition from Sacramento, at small forward. English: ''I'll do whatever it takes to win an NBA ring. I feel like this is the year I'll get one.''

If you can find a four-leaf clover in a hay field, you have the kind of luck it takes to win big at Lotto.More than a smidgen, it takes Lotto luck to find the six numbers that can make you a millionaire.To win the big payoff you had to pick 6 8 11 17 30 32, the numbers drawn Saturday.The $6 million jackpot would keep anyone in clover a long time.Friday's Fantasy 5 game produced seven first-prize winners. Each can collect $229,033.Another 1,584 people won $290.50 apiece for picking four winning numbers, and 54,000 people won $4.50 each for picking three correct numbers.

While the New York Mets try to buy the National League East title and the Atlanta Braves win by force of habit, the Philadelphia Phillies are poised to be one of baseball's nicest surprises. They have an excellent lineup with Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Aaron Rowand, Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell and a brilliant general manager in Pat Gillick. If he can get them a little more pitching at midseason, they could be tough down the stretch. The Phillies will finish with their first winning spring since 1998 and believe they may have found a new weapon in right-hander Gavin Floyd, a first-round draft pick in 2001 whose development was slowed by injuries.

These are the nights when you'd rather he had kept his legacy safe and warm, pressed between the pages of our memory. Michael Jordan made his next-to-last appearance at TD Waterhouse Centre on Friday night. Or at least the guy who now is wearing that famously marketable No. 23. He ducks into a phone booth to change, but at times only Clark Kent pops out, fumbling his glasses. Seven-for-21 is what you get some games from him -- the M without the J. Jordan scored 16 points and had six rebounds, playing his age in minutes (39)

DECLERCQ A STARTER If his sprained ankle is healthy, forward/center Andrew DeClercq will start Tuesday's season opener against Toronto, part of a new plan by Coach Doc Rivers. DeClercq started Thursday night's final exhibition game, leaving in the third quarter with the ankle injury. Afterward, Rivers said he would start either DeClercq or Don Reid in order to use Patrick Ewing on the second team to give the Magic extra bench scoring. Ewing said he was all for "whatever it takes to win," and he has no problem with the move.

WIMBLEDON, England -- This is when nerves are supposed to set in for young tennis players -- the Wimbledon finals. If Justine Henin is trembling with anxiety, however, it hasn't shown up in her demeanor, and one wouldn't expect it in today's final against Venus Williams. The first Belgian of either gender to reach a Wimbledon singles final, the 19-year-old has come from a set down in three of the six matches that brought her to this final against the defending champion from Palm Beach Gardens.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Tonight, more than any other since Dale Earnhardt's death, his absence will come slamming, banging, thundering home to his fellow NASCAR drivers. The Winston all-star race is the most notoriously frantic and reckless event of each season. "Saturday night racing," said Terry Labonte, a two-time winner of The Winston who fought as many sheet-metal wars with Earnhardt as any active driver left in NASCAR. "That was his thing." A 70-lap sprint, under the lights at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

JACKSONVILLE - A Heisman Trophy would have been nice. God-given prototype quarterback features such as more height and a cannonlike arm would have been, too. Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton wouldn't be anyone's quarterback model for an NFL video game. But the 5-foot-10, 189-pound senior has one intangible that separates him from more physically imposing signal-callers: He's a proven winner. ``I don't think the state of Georgia will see a player like Joe Hamilton again in a while,'' said Georgia Tech Coach George O'Leary, reflecting on Hamilton rescinding an initial acceptance of a scholarship offer by Nebraska and instead appeasing his mom by playing closer to home.

DECLERCQ A STARTER If his sprained ankle is healthy, forward/center Andrew DeClercq will start Tuesday's season opener against Toronto, part of a new plan by Coach Doc Rivers. DeClercq started Thursday night's final exhibition game, leaving in the third quarter with the ankle injury. Afterward, Rivers said he would start either DeClercq or Don Reid in order to use Patrick Ewing on the second team to give the Magic extra bench scoring. Ewing said he was all for "whatever it takes to win," and he has no problem with the move.

GOP chairman Lee Atwater will say pretty much whatever it takes to win an election. Recently at a breakfast with a group of reporters he resorted to the truth, apparently because it was more effective than any lie he could think up. He was asked to assess the chances of the Democratic Party to take over the White House any time soon. A look of bemusement came over his face, suggesting the ambivalence of an assassin whose intended victim keeps trying to commit suicide.''It's kind of strange,'' he said, ''but I don't see any substantial organization on behalf of any Democratic candidate.

See, who needs Dennis Rodman?Not the WWF.Not Jerry Springer.Not Orlando.And definitely not the Magic.They're all getting along just fine without The Worm's wacky turns.The Magic sit atop the Atlantic Division, winning four of five games, including a back-to-back out of town. They have played just one bad half of basketball in this abridged version of an NBA season - the last two quarters at Philadelphia.And - true story - the biggest controversy so far has been whether a breakfast buffet should be served between back-to-backs on the road.

ST. CLOUD - There's a caveat to St. Cloud High School's desire in 1999 to return for a second straight Class 5A Florida Finals in fastpitch softball.``We want to play one more game than last season,'' said sophomore Lindy Oakley, 15, a catalyst in the Bulldogs' first fastpitch Final Four a year ago. ``And we want to win that one more game.''Last May, unbeaten Naples (34-0) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to a 9-4 semifinal victory over St. Cloud (23-12) in Auburndale. One night later, Naples hoisted a record eighth state championship.